Beijing Vows Retaliation Against U.S. Tariffs as Fears of Deadlock Grow

Cargo gets readied for export at the port of Xiamen in eastern China on Friday. Photo: VCG

China said Tuesday it will retaliate against new tariffs on $200 billion of exports announced overnight by U.S. President Donald Trump in spite of Washington’s warning that such a move will trigger levies on all Chinese sales to the U.S.

“China has no choice but to retaliate in order to protect its legitimate rights and interests as well as the global free trade order,” the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement (link in Chinese) on its website. The ministry said China “deeply regrets” the U.S.’ decision announced on Monday to impose tariffs of 10% on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods from next week, and to increase the rate to 25% from the start of 2019.